Capello targets perfect set of four

Fabio Capello has vowed that England will play for a win against Belarus here on Wednesday as he seeks to make it four wins out of four on the road to the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

England go into the match without two first-choice defenders John Terry and Ashley Cole and their Italian coach has warned that the Belarussians are one of the best teams in group nine.

But he insisted he would be sending his players out with instructions to play with the kind of adventurous spirit that produced a memorable 4-1 win in Croatia last month.

“We played one strong game against Croatia away – it is very important for the mind, for the confidence and tomorrow is another important away game.

“I am always thinking about the victory, I never say to the players they have to play for the draw. They have to go to the pitch and win. This is very important.

“I spoke to the players and said this is very important – we have to wait six months for the next game. We are in a good moment and have to follow with positive results.

“Four games, 12 points – this is very important for me.”

Capello, however, is taking nothing for granted against a Belarus side he rates highly.

“I've seen three Belarus games and they are a very good team. Tomorrow will be no easy game. They drew with Argentina and Germany and this will be a very tough game.”

As well as the injuries to half of his first-choice back four, Capello has to find a way to get the best out of his midfield after another unconvincing display by Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the 5-1 win over Kazakhstan on Saturday.

That prompted some soul-searching from Gerrard, who admitted he rarely produces his Liverpool form for his country, but Capello insists his two biggest midfield stars can combine effectively.

“It is always the same,” he said. “If I put Gerrard in – why not Lampard; if Lampard – why not Gerrard. But I think they can play together.”

Rio Ferdinand, who will captain the side in the absence of the injured Terry, said England would not make the mistake of underestimating opponents who lost narrowly to Ukraine in their opening group nine match before beating Andorra.

“The manager's made clear he sees this as a very tough game,” Ferdinand said.

“The English public maybe don't see them as a threat but their results don't lie and we have to make sure we apply ourselves the right way to come away with another win – which would be a very good result for us.”

He added: “The difficulty is people expect us to win by seven or eight, but we're not approaching it with that mentality.

“Four wins out of four puts us in a good position and with no game for quite a while it would be a good way to start. It would be a real step in the right direction.”